Nvidia boss sees plenty of cash in car market

@ 2013/06/13

Nvidia chief exec Jen-Hsun Huang believes the market for car infotainment chips is set to keep doubling each year, eventually hitting $1 billion in a few years.

Nvidia tends to like the auto industry, and the feeling is mutual. Tegra chips are currently used in dozens of cars, mainly Volkswagen group models, Audis to be precise. Nvidia says as many as 30 new car models using Nvidia-based infotainment systems will be introduced over the next two or three years, Bloomberg reports.

Tegra is basically Nvidia’s way of hedging its bets in the post PC era. The chip is used in dozens of tablets, smartphones and the list of design wins gets longer with each new generation. Nvidia is also looking to expand into new markets, like portable game consoles and homebrew open consoles like the Ouya. Cars are just a piece of the puzzle, but they are slowly becoming a significant source of revenue.

“Until now, it’s been quite slow,” Huang said. “It’s taken us about seven years to build a $100 million business. Now it’s doubling every year.”

Going from 100 million to over a billion in three or so years might sound too optimistic, but then again the auto industry seems to have an insatiable appetite for gadgets, shiny things and any sort of screen that can fit into a dashboard.